Sports & Outdoors
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Sok Nam Park
May 2, 2025
From Korea to a Boca Grande garden
An interesting life is rarely a carefree life. It is in overcoming obstacles that much of the fulfilling and exciting twists and turns of life take place. Sok N…
Art festival begins tarpon season of events on May 13
May 1, 2025
Excitement is brewing as anglers and artists prepare for the 2025 “World’s Richest” Tarpon Tournament and the Annual Boca Grande Tarpon Festival May 13 to 16 in downtown Boca Grande.
The Tarpon…
Irrigation overuse
May 1, 2025
Irrigation overuse last weekend resulted in a low pressure for water across the island.
“We had about 30 percent chance of running out of water,” said Ron Bolton, executive director of Gasparilla…
O’Bannon on famed fishing podcast
May 1, 2025
Capt. Phil O’Bannon appeared this week on the Mill House podcast. The sporting show podcast is led by Andy Mill, an athlete, broadcaster and author. Mill, an Olympic skier, is the author of “A Passi…
New banyan arrives for Town Park landscaping
May 1, 2025
BY THE GICIA
The Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association Town Park, located between 3rd and 5th Streets, is buzzing with activity. Restoration began on Monday, April 21.
D…
Port Boca Grande Lighthouse reopens after hurricane closure
May 1, 2025
The Barrier Island Parks Society (BIPS) will reopen the historic Port Boca Grande Lighthouse and Museum at Gasparilla Island State Park on Monday, May 5 after nearly eight months of closure due to h…
Birds, paragliders fighting for shore leave
May 1, 2025
Charlotte County environmental specialists have posted a bird nesting area at the north end of Gasparilla Island in front of Island Court, but numbers have been unusually low due to human disruption…
OPINION: NANCY LECKERLING
May 1, 2025
Taking on a cleaner island, honoring a friend
BY NANCY LECKERLING
Twenty-five years ago, when my husband Jon and I were considering the purchase of a home on Captiva Island, a friend of ours…
EcoWatch: Humpback whales may soon tell their stories
May 1, 2025
“The whales do not sing because they have an answer they sing because they have a song.”
Gregory Colbert, poet, filmmaker, photographer
There are recent reports that AI has helped scientists h…
SW Florida Fishing: They’re biting. Where are you?
May 1, 2025
BY CAPT. WILL WATERHOUSE
Another great week of fishing here in Boca Grande! We are catching a little bit of everything from snook, redfish, trout to sharks, tarpon, jacks and bluefish!
The sno…